Just in Time
by MistakeMeNot
Summary: J is sent to Japan with the other top successors to put an end to the Kira case. What can she do to change what has been destined to be when all she has are mental issues, an unexplainably long life span, and ... a death note? LxOC
1. Chapter I

**L was not killed in this fan fiction, but who knows what the future of this may be? Therefore this story will start off from the time around the intervention of Near, Matt, and Mello. L will be 24 years of age in this story.**

**For those of you that read this chapter when it began with a different case I apologize for the change, however this case is much better in my opinion and I hope you agree.**

**I have the entire plot line planned out and I hope to actually finish this story.**

**Thank you.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note.**

Chapter I

My eyes scanned the laptop screen, the only form of light in the small cramped room that I called my bedroom. The only items in said room were a bed, a desk, and a broken mirror that was on the floor in the corner of the room. I sat at the desk and spun around childishly in the swivel chair contradicting that of the usual behavior a supposed mature seventeen year old was assumed to have. Biting my thumbnail and hugging my stuffed rabbit to my side, I analyzed the given information in front of me.

I was glad that I wasn't given as many cases as Near, Mello, and Matt who are working on their at least fiftieth case just this month; currently I was working on my twenty-ninth case. Without the constant breaks for the supposed human necessities of sleeping and exercising physically I had still been able to solve them at no less than four times faster than any regular detective from the local police department. This of course took a toll on me causing heavy dark purple and black bags to form underneath my eyes.

The case that I was presently evaluating interested me far greater than the last few cases up till now, it was highly out of the ordinary in some aspects yet in retrospect it was exactly the same. Almost all cases were centered on the deaths of a specific person or type of persons. This one involved the uncanny and coincidental suicides of multiple teenage girls at first glance; however after studying the environment in which the girls lived and interacted with others I was able to conclude that these supposed suicides were likely hidden murders. The strangely peculiar thing about these murders was they were set up as suicides and at each location of death a note was present that was written by the victims. The notes were all the exact same and read, "Let Him live on".

Since "Him" had been capitalized in the note they must have been thinking of a certain person of which they referred to as Him or He, therefore when reading the full note it acts as if the man were perhaps a godlike figure to the victims. The man in this case, assuming that the "Him" is a male and not an unstable female, should be found in the school of which the girls attended together. It would also be more likely if the male held authority over the victims.

"Roger, I would like you to attain the names of each of the teachers that taught at the school of which the victims went to," I spoke with my usual monotone voice into the intercom that was connected from my bedroom to Roger's office. I tilted my head to the side and bit my thumbnail while pondering on the case, I sighed to myself. It was aggravating that I was not given all of the available information on the situation beforehand.

The curt voice on the other end of the intercom affirmed me that my request had been heard. I allowed my mind to drift as I contemplated the predicament that consisted of the lineup for L's successors. At the moment I was right behind Near, Mello, and Matt. I had never changed my position because that was the spot I had wanted and had thought to be the ideal spot for me. Recently I had found myself questioning my true intellectual capacity and wondering if I could surpass Near or even L if I really put my mind to work. I always put just enough effort into my work to stay where I was in the lineup since I had learned that you should never show your true potential to anyone. This is what I had believed before something had actually taken up my interest

The Kira case that L was taking care of in Japan was extremely interesting to me. It was obvious that Kira had an IQ that could match L's if he was still walking free in the world. Roger had been getting nervous lately, if the signs weren't enough to prove it. He had been quick to end a conversation, failed to pay attention to his surroundings because even the ever annoying Mello had been able to sneak up on him, and he now has a twitch above his right eyebrow that he never had before. If my calculations are correct, if the Kira case continued on like it was then Roger would soon intervene in the investigation and send his top successors to Japan. His top _three _successors would be sent, _not_ the top four.

I used to get the fourth top grade on purpose because I didn't want to have the workload of performing the multitude number of cases all around the world. Being number four was the perfect spot to keep in touch with the up to date information on L's cases. Now that I have decided that I want to be sent to Japan and work with L then I'm going to achieve the spot that I am now aiming for. I _hate_ to lose and if I don't get sent to Japan with the others then it would only cause for me to be mad at myself, something that was unneeded and worthless because being mad wouldn't change anything.

I was confused why I was still pondering the idea that I may not go. I was going to go; I had no doubt about it. All that I had to do was match my recorded grades with Matt's so that it would be unfair to take one child without taking the other.

I swiveled back to my notes and laptop before swiftly hacking onto the server of the Wammy House and pulling up the files containing the top successors. Matt's current overall average in his classes was 98.976 out of 100, while Mello's was less than a single point above him with 98.998. Below Matt's score sat mine with a 98.975. I simply typed into a few of the boxes pertaining to my grades and the grade of my previous test on deduction and reasoning, changing one of my answers to the correct one so that my average matched Matt's exactly. I then logged off of the connection to the server and changed the history and codes to make it appear as if no one had ever messed with it to begin with, all within the duration of only thirty or so seconds.

I stood up from my chair and grabbed ahold of the stuffed white bunny that lay upon my small cot. I never left it alone; therefore I was never left alone. Among the many things that affected me, separation anxiety was one of them, so I was given this small piece of fabric that was in the form of a rabbit when I was only seven years old, the age I was when I originally arrived at Wammy's. Even though one of the button eyes was on the edge of falling off and it's stitching was tearing apart I refused to let it leave my side. I held it close to my chest while I continued to bite my nail. Walking the short distance to the white door on the other end of the room, I carefully evaded the small smashed pieces of the mirror that would forever be in that spot if I had any say in it, then headed out towards the kitchen.

It was only 3:30 in the morning yet the whole room held at least ten or so children ranging from the ages of three to seventeen. I spotted Mello in the corner of the room fighting with a child years younger than himself over what seemed to be one of the last chocolate bars; if they had looked closer they would have noticed the one that fell behind the table. I took notice of his overreaction to such a small problem and snatched myself the last sugar stick available. A small girl, who I recognized to go by the name of R or Rain, had her hand stretched out to grab the stick of hardened sugar and looked at me as if I had just taken away her happiness. This just ended up in a staring contest between me and the girl over the last sugar stick. Rain struggled to win the battle while I simply watched her before she ultimately blinked and walked away. She had no right to take the last sugar stick. I then grabbed some honey and lemon juice, mixed them together in a coffee mug and warmed my concoction up in the microwave. I took my mug and sugar stick with me back up to my bedroom and began consuming my sweets.

Roger knocked on my door before walking into the room with a file in his hands, probably the information I asked for only minutes earlier.

"Here's the information on the teachers that worked at the school," he twitched above his right eye.

"Thanks," I looked at him while drinking my sweet honey and lemon drink. He laid the file on my cluttered desk before turning away and leaving without a goodbye. He seemed even more stressed than usual since he left after speaking only ten words to me. That itself was unusual because he was the type of person that initiated most conversations. I will probably be notified of my newest role in the Kira case sooner than I had originally anticipated. Although there is a small percentage that contradicts my evaluation of Roger that shows that he may just be stressed with other complications or issues, but that percentage is small, very small.

I opened up that file that held the information that I had yet to view and quickly scanned the papers, separating the women's files from the men's. One in particular stood out over the rest, the gym teacher. He had just recently been accused of murdering his eight year old girl after raping and abusing her, it was only hours later that it was proven to be true.

"Roger, I want Elliot Woodworth to be interviewed as a suspect for my current case and if it wouldn't be too much trouble I would like to be the one to interview him," There was silence on the other end of the intercom as I looked at the notes indifferently. I bit on my thumbnail again.

"If that is what you would like then I shall have him collected and brought in later today," Roger replied shortly before probably attending back to whatever business that had previously been occupying his mind.

I had the interview question ready long ago and after waiting for Mr. Woodworth to arrive for at least eight hours I had finally come to the conclusion to walk to Roger's office. I entered without knocking on the door and I first noticed Near sitting on the floor, putting together a puzzle. Then I noticed Mello eating the chocolate bar that had fallen behind the table most probably and Matt who actually did not have a video game holding his undivided attention at the moment.

"J, I was about to call for you," Roger said as he looked up at me from his desk and set down his phone. "Mr. Woodworth just died of an unexplainable heart attack."


	2. Chapter II

**Current Character Ages:**

**L: 24**

**J: 17**

**Near: 16**

**Mello: 21**

**Matt: 19**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note**

Chapter II

"J, I was about to call for you," Roger said as he looked up at me from his desk and set down his phone. "Mr. Woodworth just died of an unexplainable heart attack."

"There had been a small chance of this happening," I mumbled to myself, "the fact that a convicted murderer and rapist died of a heart attack was obviously done by the hands of Kira, though what surprises me is that it happened here in England outside the perimeter of which Kira usually centered his killings. This only proves that the Kira case is getting more and more out of hand, if it isn't already." L was probably too childish to admit defeat and ask for assistance which would cause Watari and Roger to finally take matters into their own hands.

"That is the precise reason we have gathered here today—"

"L needs help and for some reason Roger's involving you," Mello spat while looking at me from the corner of his eyes and taking another bite from his chocolate bar. Roger sighed and I silently waited for him to speak, ignoring Mello.

"It is true that L is in need of assistance. We have decided to send L's top three successors to Japan and since you are tied with Matt for third place, you will be joining them. I do have one question for you before I say more, is there a reason that your average just magically rose this morning at the exact time there was a breach in our firewall?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"I can't think of an explanation that I believe to be of importance at the moment. Although it does seem rather coincidental, does it not?" I bit my thumbnail and brought my bunny up to my chest. Roger shook his head to himself and rubbed his temples.

"No matter, I believe you will be helpful to L on this case and that is why you will be going to Japan. Although, you didn't have to hack into our server and change your grades just to go, you could have just asked and I may have considered it… just out of my own curiosity, how did you know ahead of time that we were going to send L backup?" Roger asked questioningly.

"As I said before and I assume that Near, Mello, and Matt came to the same conclusion as I did regarding the Kira investigation, if Kira is still walking out and about in the streets and has yet to be put behind bars or to execution then L must be having trouble. Also, your stress levels have been extremely high for the past few days; I knew that you would ask us sooner or later."

"Can we move on to the more important subject at hand? I don't want to work with him! I _can't_ work with him and you know that! We've _always_ competed against each other!" Mello shouted while pointing at Near, who merely glanced up from his puzzle.

"Mello calm down," Matt placed a hand on Mello's shoulder before having it slapped away.

"I don't see how getting emotional about this is going to change anything…" I mumbled.

"That's just it! I _have emotions _unlike Near, J, and L! I'm not the kind of fucking person that analyzes everything like a puzzle!" Mello threw his hands in the air from exasperation, "I'm done with this, and I'm going to beat all of you and catch Kira first, just watch me!" Mello turned and left the room. Matt looked torn between staying and going, however it was obvious what his choice was.

"Sorry," He looked at the ground and followed Mello out of the room. I sighed at Mello's behavior, as was the norm.

"That was unfortunate," said Near, who had completed his puzzle and dumped out the pieces, starting again. Roger looked as if he would have a heart attack if he got any more stress.

"Well even if Mello will not work with others, I hope that you two can work together with L properly."

"Actually Roger, if you don't mind I would prefer to work on my own on this case. I will still stay in contact with L and J just in case I run into any serious problems along the way, but I want to beat Kira by myself. Plus I tend to work better without other people distracting me," said Near.

"…That's perfectly fine Near, but please allow us to at least make arrangements for your transportation to Japan. We have our private jet that both you and J can take. J, it appears that you will be working alone with L and his investigation team. We will have a car waiting outside tomorrow morning at precisely 4 o'clock for the both of you; we insist that you get started on the case as soon as possible."

"Thank you Roger. On another note, I trust that you realize that my prime suspect for the case I was currently working on is dead and—"

"That is fine, you did an excellent job J. Everything will be taken care of while you are away and another person will fill in the remaining holes in the case," spoke Roger, who by now had begun to relax back into his chair.

"If there are no objections, I am no longer involved in the conversation at hand and I will be taking my leave," Near picked up his puzzle and silently walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him while twirling a white strand of hair.

The numb sensation overtook me as I zoned out, a normal occurrence. The cause of such a thing is one of the multiple disorders that come with being a genius, literally. It was only when I felt Roger put his hand on my shoulder that I came back to reality unaware of the amount of time that had passed, presumably only seconds.

"You should get some sleep before leaving; L will probably keep you from resting for quite some time." I looked up into his eyes that held a genuine worrisome emotion. I blinked and realized how hard it was to just keep my eyes open. Surely Roger had noticed the dark bags that were no doubt permanently ingrained underneath my eyes. I nodded.

"I'll be out at the car by four," without any more conversation I turned and left. Even if I told myself not to, I couldn't help but feel a slight annoyance that someone else would take up a case that I didn't finish. It felt wrong not to complete a case and it irritated me, it felt as if I had lost a battle. Turning to the optimistic side of things, I couldn't ponder on the previous case any longer because I was finally assigned to the Kira case, an investigation that would no doubt be recorded into the history books.

It had been a dreadful feeling, waking up. It was a weekly incident that I disliked greatly. Sadly sleep was a necessity and waking up usually came along with it.

I slowly trudged out of my small cot and lugged my now fully packed suitcase out the door, bunny in hand. By the time I had reached the shiny black car waiting outside Wammy's house the moon looked to be on its descent in the sky. Roger waited by the door with a small package in his hands. He looked at his watch.

"Four o'clock exactly, here is the information you will need to know about the Kira investigation what has gone on thus far," he handed me the thin white package that held a disc.

"You are coming as well are you not?" I asked Roger who seemed to not be carrying any bags whatsoever.

"No I am not, I must stay and watch over the other children here at Wammy's," He looked down at me. I started shaking and scrunched up my eyebrows, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt with my hands. My stuffed rabbit fell to the ground.

"Roger," my eyes became blurry from the liquid building up. I felt arms wrap around my body.

I was shocked for a moment, not used to this type of physical contact. I slowly raised my arms up and wrapped them around Roger's body like he did mine… It felt strange. I've grown up experiencing minimal to no physical contact with other children or adults. This didn't feel wrong, yet it didn't feel right. I suppose you could say that Roger is the parental figure that I never had growing up. I hesitantly released my grip and looked to the gravel where my bunny had fallen. A tear dropped from my face and fell onto it but the fabric soaked it up. Crouching down, I lifted it up and hugged it to my chest while lightly brushing off the specks of dirt that had gotten stuck. Roger felt around in his pocket for something and pulled out a sugar stick, handing it to me.

"I'm sure you know as well as I do that you're not going to be gone forever. Eventually Kira will be caught and you can come back here if you so wish. You know that leaving people is necessary in being a detective." I nodded, already having heard this the last time I left. Remembering my past trips gave me comfort knowing that in the end I had come back here and nothing had happened while I was away.

"…Goodbye Roger," with nothing else to say I licked my sugar stick and turned to get into the black car. I slid in next to Near who was playing with two small robots. The driver shut my door before getting in and starting the car. Roger stepped away and I refused to let myself look back at Whammy's house as I had the previous times I was in the same situation. Instead I looked at my reflection in the dark windows.

I hadn't truly looked at my reflection in years, always either covering mirrors or smashing them to pieces. My black hair had recently grown, now reaching down to my chin after previously being cut just past my ears. It seemed my skin had gotten paler, which only highlighted the bags underneath my black eyes. I tore my eyes away from the window when I tilted my head down to look at my bunny and my bangs fell over my eyes, hiding them from view.

The ride to the jet was just as quiet as I thought it would be, with only the occasional clanking noise of toy robots hitting each other. Near didn't talk when he didn't have to and I didn't have anything to say, this resulted in a content silence between the both of us. When we reached the jet the silence continued on and we sat on opposite ends of the aircraft.

I sat in my seat and placed my laptop on the table in front of me, inserting the disc Roger gave me into the side of it.

I had reread the clues that were sent from L to Wammy's. The case first got noticed by L when there were 52 heart attacks reported on people who committed criminal acts. This probably caused L to come up with two options: everything was coincidental, or someone was somehow arranging the deaths. When L realized it had been the second option he tested Kira by putting a man on television by the name of Lind L. Tailor. The test resulted with the death of the bait while Kira proved that he needed a name to kill. It also revealed that Kira was located in a specific region in Japan. L was smart, very smart. He deduced that since the first criminal to die of a heart attack had been such a petty criminal that his death was merely a test, or experiment. L then figured that since the times of the deaths focused around school times that the possibilities of Kira being a student were increasingly high. The police then analyzed how the late criminals had been revealed to the public before they died and L came to conclusion that a picture was also needed for Kira to kill. Also, to prove L's theory of Kira being a student to be wrong the killings started to happen nearly every hour. Through this, L concluded that Kira did this to show that he could control the time of deaths and that he knew about L's student theory and therefore must have access to the investigation files. L then felt obligated to investigate the police force by calling the FBI into play. Six deaths were later found to be rather interesting when inmates committed strange acts before their deaths. The acts brought the sentence, "L did you know that shinigamis love apples?" to attention through meaningless letters. L was able to then tell that Kira could determine the actions of the criminals before their deaths. The interesting acts that occurred were also assumed to be tests created by Kira. Eventually all twelve FBI agents that were sent to watch the close ones and families of the police officers were killed by heart attacks, the killings _seemed_ to be done by Kira's hand at the time.

The killings of the agents led to the withdrawal of the FBI in the investigation because of the obvious danger involved. The pattern of killings surrounding the deaths of the agents revealed to L that Kira was being followed by one of the agents later revealed to be Raye Penbar who had been tracking Light Yagami, L's prime suspect, at the time of his death. His death was followed by Naomi Misora's. Raye Penbar's death led to the Yagami household being videotaped and wiretapped. Watching Light and his family showed nothing out of the ordinary and the cameras and taps were later taken out.

It didn't completely surprise me when I read about the part of L attending the To-Oh entrance exam with Light, who had been targeted at the prime suspect in L's eyes thus far. I would have probably come up with an idea along the same lines. After L confessed to being L to the supposed Kira, Light showed the reactions that were typical of a police officer's son. L's decision to offer Light a position on the task force was also brilliant. It was very interesting to deduce a second Kira, later suspected to be the young woman by the name of Misa Amane, because of a videotape sent to Sakura TV. The real Kira had an obviously strong sense of justice and would usually avoid the killing of innocent people that the second Kira didn't do during the video.

My eyes had widened when I read over the part talking about the "shinigamis" that were mentioned in the second Kira's reply message to the investigations' response. The fake Kira must be completely stupid to just toss around conversations involving shinigamis so carelessly in the public.

After the messages that were sent by the second Kira, L's deduction that the real Kira and the fake had met was both ideal and realistic. The fake must have had the shinigami eyes and seen Light's death date with no name. L suspected the fake would have no reason to suddenly stop attempting to meet with the real Kira and L figured that the whole point of the last video was to cover up the meeting.

Stating the obvious thus far, Light and the second Kira were working together. Since Light was the only one on the outside that new L was who he was then the second Kira should have no idea unless Light told him, unless it is Misa Amane where in that case it would be a her. Basically, if L were to die then Light had to be Kira.

Misa Amane was arrested for the suspicion that she was the second Kira because of hair samples that were found in her apartment and on the duct tape on the video's envelopes, when she showed her relationship with Light to L it got rid of any doubts in my mind. Light was Kira. I admit it was surprising when he came right out and said he might be Kira subconsciously. It was the right thing for L to do to put him into solitary confinement. Now all that was left was to wait and see for the results of such a test.

I finished a sugar stick and pulled out another one from my bag, sticking it into my mouth and savoring the sweet treat. Only a few more hours until we would land in Japan, where I would meet L once again. I had only met him once, although I would never forget that meeting.

_Flashback – ten years ago_

_This is home. This place, Wammy's House, is a place where I can make connections without fear of being abandoned. Of course I was not so naïve to actually believe that I would never leave this place permanently, however until I reached the age of eighteen I would be considered a minor and therefore have reason to be watched over by a guardian. Wammy's is made to be the guardian figure to help children grow and become successful in life. It had been merely three weeks since I arrived here and I already knew what I wanted to do and be in the future, a detective. I didn't know if it was because other children wanted to be detectives that I chose this path, but I felt that if I could bring people to justice then I would be considered useful._

_My biological parents never thought of me more than they would think about a fly before swatting it. I was a nuisance and inconvenience to them. Back then I only lived for one person and it only lived for me._

_Anyways, the other children were always loud and bickering. They joked, played, and laughed; things I never believed I would ever truly experience. I didn't fit in anywhere; I had accepted that long ago. I was never let in on the whispers or the rumors that were passed around incessantly at the orphanage. When a rumor began going around that the legendary L would be returning I never heard it._

_I was walking down the hallways of Wammy's with my stuffed rabbit in hand when I heard a larger amount of ruckus than usual in the common room. Curiosity took ahold of me as I veered off of my path towards the kitchen to instead see what the commotion was all about. All of the younger children crowded around a young man, presumably a teenager. He had dark unmanageable hair and dark eyes that had obvious bags beneath them. I had never seen this boy before however the others acted as if he were a celebrity._

_I watched from the top of the stairway leading to the crowd. I sat on the top step and peeked at the boy through the railings. He was hunched over slightly and wore simple clothing, nothing special from the first glance. The adults seemed to have a respect for him since they stood at a distance before making their way towards him and greeting him. _

_He lifted his eyes and found mine; he looked at me for a moment before blinking and looking away. My face heated up and I felt my forehead in case I was experiencing a fever. I didn't feel sick so why did I feel this way? I bit my thumbnail and analyzed the situation which then caused me to overthink and my face got warmer._

_Hugging my bunny to my side, I stood up and descended the staircase. When I reached the bottom I cowered away from any physical contact and strained my ears to listen in into what people were saying._

"_I can't believe that's _L_! Even here at Wammy's, meeting him is like a once in a lifetime chance," a young boy only a year older than me told his friend._

"_He's kind of cute don't you think?" A teenage girl nudged another girl._

"_That boy, he's been so successful at such a young age. He definitely is the pride and joy of Wammy's House," An elder woman spoke to a man around the same age._

_The conversations continued on, all sounding the same. This boy was the illustrious L, the best of the best. He was the boy that everyone looked up to and wanted to be like yet they didn't truly know him. The only things they knew about him was just about as much as I did, his accomplishments._

_I glanced at L one last time before I continued on to my previous destination, and there may have been a chance I was being paranoid but I could have sworn I felt eyes following me as I ascended the stairs from which I came. When I entered the kitchen I went straight to the candy and picked up some chocolate chip cookies before I went to the drinks and got a beverage that consisted of lemon juice and honey._

_Usually the kitchen held multitudes of people but thanks to the arrival of L it seemed that everyone was more interested in meeting him. This gave me the chance to sit at one the tables. Eating food so freely was never a freedom that I previously had at the other orphanages, which instead had specific times for eating of which we had to adhere to. I ate my sweets in silent and eventually drifted off into a daze-like state where my body acted almost as if on autopilot. I knew that I had finished my cookies but I began to reminisce on the problems and issues that had originally brought me here to Wammy's. I was able to stop myself from thinking about too much, afraid that I would think about some extremely unpleasant things. What snapped me out of my daze was the noise of a chair nearby scraping across the ground._

_When I looked to see who had interrupted my thoughts I saw the familiar pale skin and black hair I had seen just minutes ago. It seemed he had been able to escape the chaos since no one else had entered the room yet. He lifted his hand to me, offering what looked to be a small wooden stick with rock like candy on it._

"_Would you like a sugar stick?" He let a small smile show on his face. I nodded, looking at him with eyes devoid of emotion and began to feel my face heat up again. I took the candy from his hand and hesitantly licked it._

"_Thank you," I looked at how he hugged his knees to his chest and I tilted my head, "why do you sit like that?" I wasn't sure if it would be considered rude to come right out and say that but I was usually blunt when I got curious._

"_It increases my deductive skills by forty percent. May I ask why you carry around a stuffed animal?"_

"_It helps me deal with my separation anxiety," he seemed to nod in understanding._

"_What happened?" I assumed he was asking about the reason I had separation anxiety and what could have affected me to the point that I would be affect by such a disorder._

"_I'd rather not talk about it at the moment," I sipped my drink as I avoided his question. We sat like that for a while, I outwardly watched him and he simply watched me. When voices were heard approaching from the hallways he frowned slightly and stood up, walking away. I didn't see him again until I watched him leave from the same place I had first laid eyes on him, only a few days after his arrival._

_Flashback End_

It all had seemed so insignificant to me at the time. He had evidently done something out of the ordinary when he centered his attention on me even if it was for only five or so minutes. I eventually found out that the reason my face heated up was because of small amounts of adrenaline being released and the blood rushing to my face, it didn't happen much in my life before nor after I met him. It was only when I was around him that I felt that way, and to this day I can only remember certain things about him.

I leaned back in my seat and continued consuming the tasty candy that I had become addicted to at an early age. The jet began its descent to the island nation below.

"You are to go up to room 826 and leave your belongings there. There will be a note pad on the table to the right of you as you come in which will have the number of the room that you are to come to when you are ready," Watari spoke through the cell phone I was given as I left the car. I was also given my room key at the time.

"I understand," I flipped the phone closed when I was sure he wasn't going to say anything else and grabbed my unimaginably heavy bags, again dragging them behind me. If Watari and L could manage to get someone to write things down on note pads in my room then why couldn't they send someone to pick up my luggage?

Inside my room, as I was told there would be, sat a piece of notebook paper with a room number on it. I laid my things on the bed and searched for cameras or wire taps that could have been placed before I arrived. After I was sure that I wasn't being watched I opened my suitcase and reached beneath my clothes to the hidden pocket. I felt around until I came into contact with the leather notebook that always gave me both a sense of security and a feeling of dread. I pulled it out and hugged it to my chest as I usually did my bunny.

"Shinn…"

**Can you figure out who Shinn is to J? I left one or two clues within the text.**


	3. Chapter III

**I can't believe I was able to finish that last chapter, I watched the first fifteen episodes all over again and took notes of what had happened and it was all for this story. Now I can finally get the story going! Please leave a review because you are the only people that can critique my work and help me get better! Thank you to those who have already reviewed, namely AyameRose, theawsomesarah, and theheartstourniquet.**

**Also, I am warning you that the timeline concerning Light's confinement may be thrown slightly out-of-whack during this chapter and the ones to follow.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Death Note or any of the lines that I may have borrowed for this story.**

Chapter III

"Shinn…"

I flipped open the death note and read through the names of people that no longer walked upon this earth. It was unbelievable that the previous owner even had the gall to write a single name in this accursed book. From the amount of names in the book, there being only enough to fill up half of the first page, it was likely that the person either went crazy or reached the predetermined death that had awaited him or her. Though, I could not rule out the possibility of this person simply relinquishing their ownership, a privilege that I had lost long ago. If that person had had even an ounce of common sense in their heads they would have gotten rid of it as soon as possible. Sometimes I wish I had used my common sense back then; however I will never be able to bring myself to regret my decision on not walking away when I was presented the chance. That choice had changed my life forever and I would not have had it any other way.

I scanned the room with my eyes, searching for a place to conceal my supernatural leather notebook. I was about to place it in a plastic bag hidden inside a coat of mine that I hung inside my closet before I had second thoughts. There was a strong possibility that the room could be searched in the near future and this would be found too easily, I then removed the notebook from the plastic and proceeded to pace around the room. I had to find a spot within the next few minutes or L may get suspicious that I am taking more time in my room than necessary and send someone to check on me, which was not the best thing that could happen to me at the moment.

Pulling a black note book out that resembled my death note from a bookcase, I began writing inside it only the most important rules from the death note and the names of the unfortunate people, and I also carved into the front of the book the letters spelling out Death Note. In the end I was left with an exact replica. I was sure to not use my own handwriting and to get rid of the writing utensil I used afterwards. Walking over to the dresser I then placed the fake death note in the top drawer. I took the real death note and taped it to the wooden space inside the same drawer just above the fake, hidden completely out of view if someone were to open it. This way, I may be accused of having a death note but the fake would suffice their curiosity and give me a form of control over whatever situation I was to be put in because I would still have the real book safe and sound.

I picked up my bunny and hugged it as if it were a lifeline. Before I left the room I was sure to take one of my bed sheets and cover up the bathroom mirror so that I would not have the urge to throw something at it.

While walking through the halls I experienced a form of what I assumed was excitement. I couldn't wait to see L, even if it was only to work on an investigation with him. It had been so long since those few moments we had spent together in the kitchen at Wammy's. I patiently waited at the elevator took me up to the correct floor and listened to the soft music that refused to stop playing. I hadn't realized that I walked out of the elevator until I arrived at the door that hid L from the outside world.

Now it was time for the hard part, introductions. I very much disliked them with a passion. It was usually an unavoidable and uncomfortable situation.

I tentatively raised my hand and tapped on the wooden door with my index finger and after approximately thirty seconds the door slid open to reveal a young man in his mid-twenties at the oldest.

"Hello, I'm Touta Matsuda," the man smiled while scratching the back of his head, a sign of nervousness.

"Rei," I replied, raising my eyebrows at the man who seemed to have given me his real identity without hesitation. It would have been considered an extremely stupid move if I had been Kira, for he would already be dead if that were the case. I nodded and took a small step forward as if asking for entrance, causing his eyes to widen. He opened the door wide and gestured for me to come in.

"I was told to bring you to the room where we're observing the surveillance of the suspects," said Matsuda while he closed the door and walked into one of the small hallways where I followed without question.

It was dim. Two people were in the room besides Matsuda and me, their bodies illuminated by the television. The first was a rather tall man wearing a tan suit; he served no interest to me at the moment for the one I had been looking for was sitting on the couch in the same bizarre way that I distinctly remembered from ten years ago.

He turned his head only enough to see who had entered the room however when he noticed me he didn't look away as I had expected him to, which caused my cheeks to heat up once again but I still refused to look away. He had aged, as expected, since I last saw him all those years ago. His hair was slightly longer than when I had last seen it and his face had become more defined and slim. The light from the television seemed to hit his features and cause the shadows underneath his eyes to grow. I blinked at the twenty-four year old.

"L, this is Rei. Rei, this is L," Matsuda motioned to L before gesturing to the other man in the room, "and this is Shuichi Aizawa." After this was said, L turned his attention to Matsuda.

"Matsuda it would be wise of you to both use your alias and introduce others as their alias when meeting new people that you in particular have yet to declare trustworthy," he glanced back at me, "but this is just a reminder because I believe that _Rei_ is completely trustworthy in every sense of the word." Even though he said that he trusted me, I couldn't help but consider the fact that he would only say it to increase _my_ trust in _him_. Matsuda looked away defeated after being reprimanded.

"Sorry Ryuuzaki," he scratched the back of his head again. Ryuuzaki… that was a name that BB originally went by was it not? Any chance of further conversation was then interrupted by one of the suspects on the screen speaking.

"You know what Mr. Stalker, your video won't sell if it's just me sitting here the whole time," I looked up at one of the three screens. It showed a picture of a girl, presumably Misa Amane from the records I reviewed before my arrival. She was sitting in a metal chair with leather wraps restraining her from moving while her hands were tightly wrapped to the point of immobility. I raised an eyebrow to her statement. I noticed another man on the screen in the lower corner that was hunched over in a chair and concluded that it was Light's father, if the man on the last screen had anything to do with it.

"The older man, he Light's father correct?" I looked to L.

"Yes he concluded that he was unfit to make objective decisions regarding the investigation on his son, Light, and refused to be released until his son was proven innocent, but I assume that you already came to that conclusion," L didn't remove his eyes from the television screen. "Mr. Yagami looks pretty bad, I think he's taking this harder than Light or Misa."

"Well what do you expect? It's been five days since Light was put in prison, and look, not a single criminal whose name has been broadcast has been killed. In these situations, I think the parents must suffer a lot more than the accused," said Matsuda.

"No kidding, especially now that we're seeing proof that Light is Kira," spoke Aizawa after remaining silent for so long. It was quiet in the room besides the slight static from the speakers connected to the video cameras.

"Ryuuzaki," Light spoke, "I realize that I was the one pushing for confinement and that I asked you to put me in here, but I just realized something important. This whole thing's completely pointless, because I'm _not_ Kira. You have to get me out of here!" L's eyes widened and returned to normal within a second. He leaned forward and pressed on the button to activate the intercom.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. I promised you that no matter what you said I wouldn't let you out until I was convinced that you are not Kira."

"Please L, I wasn't thinking clearly. Do you really thing a serial killer like Kira could commit those crimes without being aware of them? If I have no memory of his crimes, I'm not him!" I frowned slightly. Light's words were obviously an act from L's standpoint, however since Kira used the death note to kill it was possible that Light gave up the book to clear his name and therefore he was telling what he thought was the truth right now. Knowing Light though, he would never permanently renounce ownership and he must have thought up a plan beforehand to get it back.

"I've never been able to accept this idea that Kira has been acting without self-awareness all this time, but that doesn't change the fact that all of the evidence points to you being Kira. Since we imprisoned you, Kira hasn't committed a single murder."

"Listen, just hear me out, I swear to you I'm not lying! You have to believe me! I am not Kira!" Light started speaking faster as if he were on the verge of a panic attack, "I-I must have been framed, that the only explanation for this! You have to let me out, we're wasting time!"

"We can't let you out yet." Light's head fell between his knees as he cursed and mumbled to himself something inaudible.

"What the hell is going on? This isn't like Light at all. He's contradicting himself; it doesn't make any sense to me," Aizawa spoke his thoughts aloud.

"Well we can't release him now that the murders have stopped, it doesn't matter what he says. I mean, even _I_ know that much," Matsuda put his two cents in.

"Anyway I don't care what anyone says, as far as I'm concerned we have all of the proof we need. Light Yagami is Kira and that's the end of it," said Aizawa.

L sat quietly for a moment and turned his head to look at me.

"What do you think of the situation Rei," he said expectantly. I thought for a moment before speaking.

"From what I read of the investigation thus far, it seems obvious that Light is Kira. Even though I didn't anticipate the killings to stop completely when Light was imprisoned, it doesn't surprise me. Light is smart and would have wanted to confuse us by doing the unexpected. I certainly wouldn't be shocked if Kira started killing again anytime in the next few days just to confuse us more," I bit my thumbnail.

"That's an interesting deduction," L spoke nothing more.

We all sat quietly in the dimly lit room watching the video feed. A few bits of conversation that weren't of importance happened here and there, but after Light's episode there wasn't much that could be said. Eventually it got so late that Aizawa and Matsuda had left to go back to their homes, leaving L and I alone in the dark room. No conversation was made between the two of us as we observed the television, both of us assumingly focusing on the case at hand. Watari, whom I remembered from when he had picked me up and taken me away from the orphanage before coming to Wammy's, came into the room and handed a plate of strawberry cheesecake to L. I was sitting in a chair that was pulled up near L's when Watari turned toward me and nodded in greeting before offering to get me something to eat.

"Do you have any sugar sticks?" I looked up at him as I sat waiting and craving for the delicious treat that I had been deprived of for the last few hours. I noticed L's amused gaze from the corner of my eye.

**Yes I know it's only 2,335 words according to my computer, but I am already working on the next chapter and hope to be completed with it soon. I will be posting every Friday if it's possible.**

**I prefer reviews if it is possible and if I get at least 10 more reviews I will try my best to make the next chapter at least twice as long!**


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